About UBC Journalism
UBC Journalism is a unique, boutique journalism masters program in one of the most beautiful, diverse and progressive cities in the world. It is one of only four masters-only journalism programs in North America, and the only graduate journalism program in western Canada.
Faculty members come from the highest levels of major media organizations, as well as leaders in digital journalism and media scholarship. We pride ourselves on our one-on-one approach with students, working closely with the aspiring journalists who go through our program, and often continuing to mentor them long after they graduate.
The Master of Journalism degree is a full-time, intensive program that runs over five semesters, including a summer internship. It is designed to provide graduates with professional experience and academic grounding, to help students succeed as a journalist in any medium. Students learn everything from long-form writing to web, video and audio production, social media analytics, investigative reporting skills and critical analysis of news.
Our distinctive approach to journalism education has two components: academic specialization and applied training. This involves creating a program of study focused on an academic area — relevant to your background and interests —along with courses in media theory and ethics. Paired with the academic training is hands-on work with professional equipment alongside experienced professionals.
Students have the opportunity to study with excellent scholars in disciplines throughout the University of British Columbia, a university consistently ranked in the top 40 academic institutions in the world.
The Graduate School is modeled on a small Liberal Arts college with small class sizes and one-on-one attention. Students have contact with professors both in and outside of the classroom on a regular basis. Faculty and staff mentor students on freelancing opportunities, international internships and career options.
Degree Requirements
The program of study for the M.J. degree in Journalism is challenging and requires full-time study. Students are required to complete between 42-45 credits of course work, including a three-month internship.
Students learn to be journalists across all media — print, online, television and radio — in the first year. Most programs separate training by medium. We believe that in today’s digital environment, graduate journalists have to be proficient across many media platforms.
Therefore, theory and practice are integrated across the curriculum. This means applying ethics, media theory and academic knowledge to the journalism skills of interviewing and reporting in a real-time multimedia environment.
Journalism training starts in the first week of classes when students are assigned urban beats in Vancouver as part of our core Integrated Journalism course. This course is taught by a team of faculty: senior journalists working both locally and internationally as well as media studies professors.
Theory and graduate-level research is integrated into the curriculum through assignments and course content, as well as in specific courses such as Media Ethics and Media Law. There is also an option to complete an academic research or thesis project.
Specialization
Students specialize in key disciplines relevant to their professional careers. These include but are not limited to: environmental and health studies, international relations and political science, arts and cultural studies, English, sports, economics and science.
Students also engage issues surrounding race, gender and ethnicity through partnerships with other UBC departments.
Students take these specialties in courses outside of the School in order to obtain the knowledge necessary to report on an increasingly complex public sphere.
Popular academic specialties include: International Journalism and Political Science, New Media and Society, Solutions-Focused journalism and Science Journalism, which includes specialties in environment, health and social issues, as well as media theory.
Quick Facts
- Degree: Master of Journalism
- Specialization: Journalism
- Subject: Specialty
- Mode of delivery: On campus
- Program components: Coursework + Major Project/Essay required
- Faculty: Faculty of Arts
- School: School of Journalism
Read less
-18.gif "Masters Degrees at University College London")
